Hey guys thought I would ask here first, I don't know if you saw my last post about a good swap for my 86 GT, but I have a little change .. well postponement of plans anyway. So I'm going to race the GT stock for this year (can't afford the 3.8 right now) like I said before, a little drag, but mostly road-course, and not really for points, just a few of the guys from my car club going out and having some fun on the weekend. So my questions is, what are the best and cheap performance mods I can do to her? I have upgraded the sway bars, and got a strut tower brace, and getting the aluminum cradle bushings, and slotted rotors. The 2.8 is bone stock with a 4 speed and 88,000 miles(144,000kms) the car runs really good, but any suggestions will be appreciated, looking forward to this summer for sure !!
Thanks guys

Rob

Either a bump steer kit or an 88 cradle swap for the motor headers? Maybe potted manors for the cheap high flow cat basicly exhaust and intake home potted tb stuff like that

The bestest ,mostest,goodest,neato jet modification to make to a Fiero 2.8 V 6 is to port the exhaust manifolds,then to port the Y pipe,next a glasspack muffler or at least a performance can, like the flowmaster ,aero flow, ect...If you need to keep the cat get a performance one from Rodney Dickman.
Porting the exhaust manifolds is not easy when you remove them often the retaining bolts and studs strip, break,refuse to come out..
the exhaust logs have a severe blockage where the port outlet weld meets the log,,you only have to eyeball them when removed,,no engine modification can give best results untill the ports are open..
a ported exhaust manifold makes more power,,engine runs cooler,,more efficient ,better MPG,smoother running..girls are impressed.(maybe?)
Use search feature at the right top of tech to view the many post with photos on this subject

[This message has been edited by uhlanstan (edited 02-11-2010).]

If you have plans to do a swap just saved your money for one. Personaly i think the 2.8 is a bad choice to go racing with but thats just me.

------------------
I drive excitement. Anything else is just unacceptable
>>>>>>>>>>>PONTIAC<<<<<<<<<<






87 GT 5 speed (felony)
86 GT 4 Speed (Green lantern)

lowering with some lighter wheels will help also. Eibach pro-kit combined with the lowering ball joints should do the trick. Homemade coilovers in the rear. Kyb shocks/struts aren't very expensive. Poly bushing kit too. You can also look into boxing your control arms for added rigidity and strength.

I'm slowly working on the development of a front strut tower brace and steering brace. I have yet to see anything like that on the market or on this forum. Will let everyone know how that pans out.

------------------

imo I would just save money for a swap...any swap even if you were to only go to a 3 litre engine...no offence to anyone who has stuck with the '' stock '' pontiac engine but i don't see any real..atleast '' cheap '' performance builds with them. Due to power limits etc.

But the cheapest power gain...i would say NoS...watch the fiero mythbusters episode. But you may ( and will if you're like me ) blow up the engine. Untill then I would just make a cheapie exhaust system...basicly full straights or megaphones.

That's my limited 2 cents.

oh...if you really want to work on your car and increase its performance...i would go strictly suspension.

------------------

quote Originally posted by Genopsyde: lowering with some lighter wheels will help also. Eibach pro-kit combined with the lowering ball joints should do the trick. Homemade coilovers in the rear. Kyb shocks/struts aren't very expensive. Poly bushing kit too. You can also look into boxing your control arms for added rigidity and strength. I'm slowly working on the development of a front strut tower brace and steering brace. I have yet to see anything like that on the market or on this forum. Will let everyone know how that pans out.

Not to steal the thread but the front tower brace sounds pretty cool... Not sure on how it'll strengthen and where would you mount it... Just above the spare tire or were you planing to put a hole in the compartment to mount on the A-frame area?


--- I second the porting of the logs. Porting of the intake plenum to minimum gasket match or bigger. Adding a true cold air intake with something like K&N to reach outside into the wheel well without the silencer/water protection tubing thingy. MSD coil.... Suspension will help you get out of the hole better although I'd rather see a Fiero on a road course... Bigger bore throttle body.. EGR delete and coolant water delete from the throttle body.. High flow cat with NOT a baffled muffler like Flowmaster and rather something that is straight through like Spintech or Borla if they made them....bigger sparkplug wires with little resistance

Also if you want a cheaper sawp go with the 3.4 out of a 93-95 camaro or firebird. Easyist swap out there. drops right into your stock mounts, uses the fiero heads and intake only modd you have to do is relocate the starter.

quote Originally posted by unboundmo: Not to steal the thread but the front tower brace sounds pretty cool... Not sure on how it'll strengthen and where would you mount it... Just above the spare tire or were you planing to put a hole in the compartment to mount on the A-frame area?

pretty much anything that ties the left and right together will stiffen the chassis and allow for tighter and more responsive steering, and less body roll.
I will keep the specifics to myself until I successfully build one. If/when I do, I will not keep anything secret, gotten way too much free info from this place to not want to give back.

quote Originally posted by pontiackid86: Also if you want a cheaper sawp go with the 3.4 out of a 93-95 camaro or firebird. Easyist swap out there. drops right into your stock mounts, uses the fiero heads and intake only modd you have to do is relocate the starter.

have to do alot more if you have a duke right?....;/ i'm looking for the easiest cheapest swap....just something to hold me over untill i can put a big engine in her.

------------------

some interesting replies here, I think I might just do some exhaust work, and a cold air kit and call it a day, I AM planning a 3.8 S/C swap next winter, but for 2010, I will be running the stock 2.8, and yes mostly road course racing, some drag .... I have a low 12 sec 1989 T/A , that's why I'm keeping the 4 speed, better for road course, but keep the suggestions coming, I really don't want to spend a ton of cash on mods, if I'm putting a 3.8 in later. I assume from the lack of Computer talk, that chips don't do anything, that was the first thing I did in the 89 T/A ... well get rid of the cat ....

Thanks guys

Rob

50 shot

I would suggest getting a good set of tires, if you haven't already. All these suspension mods people are talking about will do you no good if you don't have good traction. And if you use the Fiero mostly for racing, try some weight reduction. Also, the 2.8 V6 responds very favorably to exhaust mods. Porting the exhaust manifolds and deleting the catalyst will help. You could also try advancing the spark timing a few degrees.

Since you are asking about the 2.8, I am not going to talk about the suspension. The best cheep mod would be to port the exhaust. The Fiero came stock with a cold air intake, so that is not going to help. For me, I will not touch my stock engine. Yes porting the exhaust might give 5hp, but I am not going to feel that and it is a lot of work for a 5% gain. My rule of thumb is to buy presents for my wife and not the car. The RIO is much bigger.

Moving the battery to the front under the spare helps weight distribution/handling. (in my opinion)
It is also a relatively cheap mod.

Kit

quote Originally posted by Hockaday: imo I would just save money for a swap...any swap even if you were to only go to a 3 litre engine...no offence to anyone who has stuck with the '' stock '' pontiac engine but i don't see any real..atleast '' cheap '' performance builds with them. Due to power limits etc. But the cheapest power gain...i would say NoS...watch the fiero mythbusters episode. But you may ( and will if you're like me ) blow up the engine. Untill then I would just make a cheapie exhaust system...basicly full straights or megaphones. That's my limited 2 cents. oh...if you really want to work on your car and increase its performance...i would go strictly suspension.

I'm sticking with the 2.8. I'm doing a basic non-intercooled turbo setup ($2500 total maybe?) and expect to be under 14.5 seconds at the quarter mile dragstrip.

With more modification, I don't doubt being able to crack into the thirteens.

The best cheap mods I can think of would be to make a fresh new ground strap from the block to the chassis, and a battery relocation kit to the front compartment.

PK86 - Doesn't that signature break the rules for the allowed height of a signature? It takes up 3/4 of my screen!

A good cheap mod on a 2.8 is porting the exhaust manifolds as the others have said, i have a pair that's been ported and I have no use in if you're interested.

------------------

quote Originally posted by JamesCurtis: PK86 - Doesn't that signature break the rules for the allowed height of a signature? It takes up 3/4 of my screen! A good cheap mod on a 2.8 is porting the exhaust manifolds as the others have said, i have a pair that's been ported and I have no use in if you're interested.

I might be interested .. depends on pricing and shipping .... Calgary is not the cheapest to ship to !! LOL But hey you never know ..... the gifts for the wife ... well she's in to cars as well, the Fiero is 1 of 5 collector type cars we have, so I'm restoring her 75 T/A as well, hence the change in plans !! LOL
I'm going to run the Fiero this way for this year, to get a feel, then we'll "kick it up a notch!"

Rob

The Fiero does need at least one extra ground wire..also clean retorque the stock grounds..
Dyno test prove the stock chip is A1,performance chips gave no yield on Dyno.. 0.o
The proper porting of the stock manifolds,, porting the Y pipe ,eliminate the cat or performance cat and a glass pack or free flow muffler will give 12 to 15 horsepower ,,NO none nada,nyet,2.8 performance mods give the excellent results ,,that removing the severe blockage in the 2.8 exhaust manifold deliver ,win,win.win,win
DYNO test show 7 to 8 horsepower gain from porting stock manifolds
ANY engine swap is expensive ,a lot of hassle, many here forget the hassle and expense ,,once again a swap is not the beer kegger followed by a panty raid many see..
I swapped my first engine in the 50,s,,,Olds 88 4 barrel into flathead 49 ford
The 2.8 V6 has plenty of power & delivers good MPG as I thread thru the other 1000 cars herding me along ..

[This message has been edited by uhlanstan (edited 02-11-2010).]

quote Originally posted by JamesCurtis: PK86 - Doesn't that signature break the rules for the allowed height of a signature? It takes up 3/4 of my screen!

Yep... Rule is:

Sigs
should
only
take up
six lines
of text

-=-=-=--=-=-
As far as the performance mods for a 2.8 go, intake and exhaust are really the best things to work on...

Exhaust is easier - for the intake, you could just cut a hole in the rear decklid and stick a pipe on the end of each (lower) intake runner with filters on the ends... doesn't really need to look good, does it?